Automatic control for vehicle superstructures



July 26, 1927. 1,637,191

F. HETZELBERGER AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR VEHICLE SUPERSTRUCTURES Filed Aug.29. 1925 s Sheets-Shani N R v M fem/z f/ETZELBERGER July 26., 1927-,637,191

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1,637,191 F. HETZELBERGER AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR VEHICLE SUPERSTRUCTURESJuly 26, 1927.

Filed Aug. 29. 1925 s Sheets-Shoot .5 munuuumuuu Jz'zzlezziorr ff FRANZMsrzn BERGER Patented July 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ HETZELBERGER, F ULM-ON-THE-DONAU, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO 0. D.

IAGIBUS, AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT, OF DONAU, GERMANY, A CORPORATION OF GER-AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR VEHICLE SUPERSTRUCTURES.

Application filed August 29, 1925, Serial In practice it is frequentlynecessary to adjust bearing surfaces which carry superstructures and thelike on vehicles, in a vertical and horizontal direction in order tocompensate for inequalities of the ground or the unsteady position ofthe understructures. This is for instance the case in superstructuresused on ships, such as turrets, signal masts, search lights and wirelesspoles or in other devices on vehicles. Such arrangements are also usedby fire brigades for rotatable, inelinable and telescopic escapes. Forthese purposes constructions are known in which the control of themechanical drive for the horizontal adjustment is effected automaticallyby means of a pendulum or plummet. Such controls have however thedrawback that they act slowly in the case of small oscillations of thesuperstructure, and thereby cause the superstructure to behaveerraticall These mechanically operated controls urther offer almostunsurmountable difficulties when the member actuating the control, is ata great distance from the source of power. The difiiculties in thetransmission of the mechanical control movements become still greaterwhen the superstructure must take part in other movements than those ofthe vertical and horizontal adjustment, as, for instance, inthe case oftravellin rising, telescopic and rotatable fire lad ers.

The present invention overcomes these difficulties by the provision ofan electric control comprising a pendulum carried by the ladder or othermember to be controlled. The movements of the pendulum with respect tothe ladder cause electric circuits to be opened and closed, thuscontrolling the adjusting mechanism. Thus it is possible to position thependulum at any desired point on the ladder, and the control is mademore sensitive and its action more immediate.

For convenience, the invention is described and shown as applied to anextensible fire ladder mounted on a truck of any appropriate design, andadapted, when erected, to rotate about a vertical axis, but theinventionmay be applied to the numerous other structures mentionedabove, and I therefore intend the term ladder, as used in the appended,claims. to be construed to cover such No..53,444, and in Germany June 3,1925.

similar structures as the turrets, signal masts, search lights andwireless towers of ships. In the accompanying drawings,

F'gure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a device embodyingmy invention.

Figure 2 a plan view of the same.

Figure 3 shows the control member in section, with a diagram ofconnections,

Figure 4: shows a valve electromagnetically operated by the controlmember and control ing the pressure medium of the reversing gear of thedriving device, and

I Figures 5 and (5 show respectively two positions of a fire ladderbefore and after ad justment on sloping ground.

1n the drawings, the revolving turret 30 is mounted on the ladder truckinthe known manner, and carries atruss 41 having a rod 26 upon which aframe 8is pivotally mounted. The ladder is carried by frame 8, beingpivoted thereto by pin 43 extendin plate 42 which is attached to thelongitu inal members 1 of the ladder. Arcs 39 and l0 form bearingsurfaces for the ladder. It will thus be seen that the turret may rotatewith respect to the truck and that the ladder may rotate with respect tothe turret.

At the rear end of frame 8 a threaded shaft 17 is journaled, and a nut29 is mounted on the shaft. A shank 45 is formed on the nut and isadapted toengage plate 44 which is attached to the ladder. 'Thus theladder maybe rotated on frame 8 by turning shaft 17, causing nut 29 totravel longitudinally of the shaft and movin the rear end of the ladderin the desired direction.

Shaft 17 is driven by chains 27 and 28 which connect it with shaft 25mounted in the gear case 24. The ladder is raised to the erect positionby rotating it about rod 26 in the known manner by suitable mecha-- nism(not shown). V i g The mechanism of gear cases 15 and 16, is essentiallythe'same as that shown in the United States patent to Mayer, #1528348,granted Mar. 3, 1925, and comprises a pair of friction clutches operatedby fluid pressure, such as oil supplied by a suitable pump, whereby wormgear 48 may be driven in either direction according to whethervalve 13or 14 is opened. Thus if valve 13 is opened, gear 48 will be driventhrough the medium of gear 46 Srather than gear 47), in such directionthat tie ladder will be rotated in its ownplane in a clockwise directionas viewed from above.

A pair of solenoids 9 and 10 are mounted on; gear case 24 the coresofthe solenoids formingtt iststeinsof va 3 nd 1 Ducts 37 and 38 connectvalves 13, and 14 with an oil pump of suitable design, and

ducts and '36 lead from the valves 13, t0

gear cases 15 and 16. A lead 112 connects solenoids 9 and 10 to abattery 31 or other source of current. Lead 11 connectssole noid'fil' toaieontact plate 51" on the spindle 20,-while lead 12 connectssolenoid'ltl to a 'similar contact plate pendulunrcase 2 is pivotallysuspended fro'm'spindle 20011 the ladder? IJead a9 connects battery 31toa spindleidlnounted within the case and to a en'd uluni5suspendedtronrsp'iudle 3 by caring 4;. Tlie pendulum has a yielding contactpin19-1at its lower surface. Conducting plates (i and 7 are mounted inthe case, being insulated therefrom and from each other byinsulation-l8. Plates 6 and 7 are connected, to yielding contacts 33[and34 adapted-to contact with contact plates 50 and 51 When notinsulatedtherefromby insulating arcs '50 and 51, which are fixed to spindle 20insuch position that when the inclination of the ladder from the verticalexceeds 45 the rotation of case will cause the insulating arcs tocontact with contacts 33 and 3ttothereby prevent flow of current througheither circuit;

" The operation'of the device is as follows:

Assuming that the ladder truck stands on sloping ground, the ladder uponbeing resting the further rotation of the ladder.

Ifiti'sidesired to adjust thela'dder manu ally, thestructure shown inFig. 1 is used. Valve-stein 52 has a slotted end 53 which isengaged bypin 55 of bell crank 32. Rod 21 isconnected to hell crank 32 and to handlGVB122 -Wl1iCl1 is pivoted to truss 41 it An arm fi l extends fromrod-21 to the switch 23.

By-reasonofthe play of pin 55 in slot 53the hand leverni'ust movethrough a certain distance' from its zero position before it will beginto' move stem 52, and in so moving willcause arm 5-i to openswitch 23,thus rendering the automatic control inoperative.

;,--. n w particularly "described and we. a l it said ladder adjacentisaid first inentionedcoii tact, an electric circuit adapted to beicldsed by the contacting of said contacts, meansrmrotating, theladdertand-mcans actuated by the current in said circuit for controlling"the operation of said rotating means.

2. An electricalcontrol for a ladder, comprising a contactmembersuspended for rotation about an axis parallelto the plane of the ladder,a second contact member sue-" pended from said ladder for rotati onabout i an axis perpemlicular tosaid first-mentioned axis, and adaptediomoveinto and out of contact with said first mentionedcontactm member, anelectric circuit adapted to he closed by the contacting of said contactmomhers, means for rotating theladder and means actuated by'the currentin said circuit for controlling the operation of said rotatingmeans.

3. In a mechanical ladder, a support, aframe'rotatably mounted thereon,a ladder" pivoted to said frame for rotation in its own plane, means forimparting such rotation 'to the ladder, and an e ectricalcontrol forsaid rotating means, said control comprising a pendulumsuspended fromsaid ladder and adapted'to close an electric circuit when the ladderisin'a laterally inclined'positiou.

4. A idevice or the class dcscribedloom prising a support, a framemounted thereon for rotation about a, horizontal axis, a; mom; berpivoted to saidframe for rotation thereon, means for so'rotating saidmember, means for rotating said frame to thereby erect said V member,and a pendulum attached to said ;,inember and? adapted to close anelectric} circuit whenthe said member is inalaterally inclined position,said electric"v circuitlbeing" n connectedto'said rotatingmeans." "5'.A; device of the classdescrihed com}; prising a ladder mounted forrotation in its? own plane, ai'notor operatively connecte'd tel saidladderto impart such rotation to the H5 ladder, a pendulum suspendedfrom the} ladder and an electrical and mechanical connection, betweensaid pendulum and ,said'f motor, saidconnection being o erative, uponlateral inclination of the lader, to lcausel g said motor to rotate theladder to bringiit" to the upright position. i M 6. A device of theclassdescribed,coin-*1 prising a frame, a ladderrotatably mountedthereonja motor operatively connected to; said ladder to rotatcit',apendnlum 'sus} pended fromsaid' ladder an'delectrical con M tro'l meansactuated by said pendulnnr toI cause said motor to rotatesaid ladder.

*7? A device of the class"described,con1;l 13o prising a frame, a ladderrotatably mounted thereon, a shaft operatively connected to said ladderand adapted to rotate it in one direction, a second shaft similarlyconnected and adapted to rotate the ladder in the opposite direction, apendulum suspended from said ladder, and connecting means between saidpendulum and said shafts, whereby lateral inclination of the laddercauses the pendulum to close an electric circuit to thereby cause one ofsaid shafts to rotate the ladder.

8. An electrical control for a ladder comprising a member suspended fromsaid ladder for rotation about a fixed axis, acontact plate carried bysaid suspended memher, a contact pin carried by saidsuspended memberadjacent said plate and adapted to rotate about an axis perpendicular tosaid first mentioned axis, an electric circuit adapted to be closed bycontact between said plate and said pin, means for rotating the ladderand means actuated by the current in said circuit for controlling theoperation of said rotating means.

9. An electrical control for a ladder comprising a member suspended fromsaid ladder for rotation about an axis fixed with relation to saidladder, a pair of contact plates spaced from each other and fixed tosaid suspended member, a bearing carried by said suspended member, acontact pin suspended from said bearing and adapted to selectivelycontact with said plates, electric circuits adapted to be closed by thecontact of said pin with said plates, means for rotating the ladder andmeans actuated by the current in said circuits for controlling theoperation of said rotating means.

10. An electrical control for a laddercomprising a casing rotatablysuspended from said ladder, a pair of contact plates mounted in saidcasing, a strip of insulation between said plates, a bearingin saidcasing, a contact pin suspended from said bearing and adapted toselectively contact with said plates and said strip of insulation,electric circuits adapted to be closed by the contact of said pin withsaid plates, and opened by the contact of said pin with said strip ofinsulation, electromagnets in said circuits, means for rotating theladder, and means actuated by said electromagnets for controlling theoperation of said rotating means.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRANZ HETZELBERGER.

